2 Samuel 5:1-5; 6:1-5 and Psalm 150
2 Sam 5:1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, "Look, we are your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The Lord said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel." 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
6:1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. 3 They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart 4 with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. 5 David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
Ps 150:1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! 2 Praise God for mighty deeds; praise God according to their surpassing greatness! 3 Praise God with trumpet sound; praise God with lute and harp! 4 Praise God with tambourine and dance; praise God with strings and pipe! 5 Praise God with clanging cymbals; praise God with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

I’ll admit that sometimes when I don’t know the names and roles of those in the headlines, when I hear about regime changes in far off places that I don’t know well, I will tune out when it comes to these politics. The story seems overwhelmingly large and complex and I decide it would be too difficult to understand it so I move on with my day. Dropping in on the book of 2 Samuel feels a little like that - names and places that feel familiar but also foreign, different from me and my current reality so much so that I wonder if we have anything to say to each other at all. But then, like when I’m trying to make a low key exit from an awkward family reunion, someone stops me before I can reach the door and they say, “Hey! You remember Great Aunt’s Cousin Ruth...this young man here is her great Grandson, David. And he just got a big promotion at work.” Well I don’t know much about this David kid, but I DID really like that Great Aunt Cousin Ruth. After a few moves and a few riffs, I just lost touch with that side of the family over time. Next thing I know, David and I are sitting and chatting in this forced conversation...when he cracks a joke that is just my kind of dark humor, and his laugh sounds just like his mom’s when we were kids together. And then over the course of potluck desserts, pecan pie and lemon bars, the relational distance between us grows a bit smaller. As we go our separate ways, I notice that while I was dreading the reunion on my way there, now I’m in the mood for some carpool karaoke on the drive home. My soul feels a bit brighter and I want to crank the radio up and get my groove on, and I’m gonna start with Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” It will be physically impossible for anyone else in the car to resist that song.

The family story of a God who is faithful and generous has come to us from Ruth the Moabite outsider, leading to David the shepherd boy turned king, who both point us to one who will be The Good Shepherd who is King of Kings. David is not an ideal hero, he has a host of flaws, but he is also beloved. Here, God uses David to unite a disparate people. They bring together those who had been separate, who had once been far off, and even warring against one another. And now, the isolation and violence is over. The long-lost cousins and friends and neighbors have been found. And it’s enough to make the people feel a little groovy.

The shift is significant and it seems there should be something to mark this pivotal moment - something tangible, something visual to mark the change. This is where I might get a new haircut, or a new tattoo. But it should be something that points to what this new normal will be like. David gathers up the people and brings up the ark of God’s covenant, moving it to the new capital city of Jerusalem, which is in the center of reunited tribes. David draws up what was already there, but moves it to the middle and brings it into clear focus. The ark is more than a gilded carrying case for tablets of stone, it is the dwelling place of God’s promises, the locus of God’s presence. In this new era, the center of God’s is at the center of the city, at the center of a united people. God’s place is among the people, God with us.

As we who are +KINDRED, seek to gather together the pieces of our story for a new era in our life together, as we prayerfully discern and work toward a Rule of Life in our community meetings...we draw up God’s powerful Word of promise and anchor our life together around God at the center.

As the life-giving power of God’s promises shine through to our lives, we feel a joyful rhythm striking up a beat in our bones. We find our feet tapping to the sound of Good News. Now is the time to let loose the power that God has given us. And if God has given you the power to twerk joy into the world, as Lizzo reminds us that humanity has been doing for eons...then twerk unto the glory of God.

As for me, I come from a culture that is generally restrained and controlled in terms of expression, but we know how to party too. Last week, I went to worship with one of our local African Methodist Episcopal churches. Wesley AME in Third Ward was hosting a conference of churches and had invited us, their ELCA siblings, those who might seem like long-lost cousins after the violence one of our own caused to them at Mother Emmanuel in Charleston, to join them in this unifying worship. As we gathered together and the organ hit its first notes, shouts rang out in the sanctuary to Praise the Lord! Clapping, swaying, and boisterous song soon filled the air and even though it wasn’t my usual expression, I found that I ultimately couldn’t resist.

As the worship leader invited us in, “who will help me praise the lord today!?!” somehow it brought up even more exuberant singing and clapping than before. And where I came into that sanctuary tired and scattered, unsure of what I had to give praise for, the song and dance of those around me brought it up out of me. At first, I felt at a loss, but the more the praise continued, the more we sang together that God was blessing us right now, the more I felt it’s truth and it’s joy resounding within me, reverberating off the walls around us.

So now I ask you, what is it that your have to praise god for right now? Things may not be perfect, but I am confident that there IS a blessing in your life that is worthy of gratitude and praise. Yes, we praise God for Jose Altuve, but what else? For what do you give God praise today?

Each Sunday we celebrate with praise that God’s covenant dwells not just in an ark, or in Jerusalem, but in this bread and wine. We praise God that God is among us here, in this meal and in our sharing of it. We praise God that as we partake in this meal, God’s covenant comes to dwell in us, in our bodies, in our hearts, in our communities, wherever we go. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Praise the Lord with Flute and Twerking